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The dumb questions thread

 
 
 
I think Loren is right- the article mentioned that the event in question probably happened 1.5 billion years ago.
 
I have this itch cream for bug bites and poison ivy and such. Why does it smell like a super musty old shed?
 
Why does nearly every 18-wheel truck that I see on the highways have advertising for truckers on the back of the trailer? It's been that way for as long as I can remember. Is there some long-term, systemic, truck-driver shortage at work?
 
James Brown said:
Why does nearly every 18-wheel truck that I see on the highways have advertising for truckers on the back of the trailer? It's been that way for as long as I can remember. Is there some long-term, systemic, truck-driver shortage at work?
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it's free advertising as the truck is already driving down the road. I would be surprised if they didn't use it for some purpose. B2B type companies rarely gain much from trying to market their services in general (about the only place I note B2B ads directed at simple passersby is in airports) so that's not a very useful thing to do with the space. Hence religious messages and help-wanted ads are very common.
 
Loren Pechtel said:
James Brown said:
Why does nearly every 18-wheel truck that I see on the highways have advertising for truckers on the back of the trailer? It's been that way for as long as I can remember. Is there some long-term, systemic, truck-driver shortage at work?
Click to expand...

it's free advertising as the truck is already driving down the road. I would be surprised if they didn't use it for some purpose. B2B type companies rarely gain much from trying to market their services in general (about the only place I note B2B ads directed at simple passersby is in airports) so that's not a very useful thing to do with the space. Hence religious messages and help-wanted ads are very common.
Click to expand...

Thanks, but perhaps I wasn't clear. It seems like every single trucking company is desperate to employ drivers, such that they are constantly poaching from other trucking companies, luring non-drivers to consider a career switch, etc. Is there a reason for that? High turnover?

Imagine if on the backside of every airplane cockpit was an ad informing anyone who gets on a plane that, say, United Airlines is hiring pilots. Or if emblazoned on the side of every taxicab was sign saying that I could enjoy an exciting career in taxi services. If this went on for decades, I'd say there was some systemic break-down in what is usually a stable situation--companies that are growing need more workers, and wages rise incrementally until the positions are filled. Then the companies achieve a level of equilibrium and stop pouring resources into recruitment (above and beyond a normal level, of course.)
 
Perhaps advertising on trucks is not very lucrative or marketable... so the trucking industry uses that space for themselves since they can't sell it... and what do trucking companies want to advertise to the general public? Not their trucking services, most likely.. they use middle-men for that. so what other message for the public would a trucking company have?
 
hylidae said:
I have this itch cream for bug bites and poison ivy and such. Why does it smell like a super musty old shed?
Click to expand...

The ingredient Urea is likely the source. Is this a "fragrance free" lotion? Usually, fragrance is added to cover that up.
 
James Brown said:
Loren Pechtel said:
it's free advertising as the truck is already driving down the road. I would be surprised if they didn't use it for some purpose. B2B type companies rarely gain much from trying to market their services in general (about the only place I note B2B ads directed at simple passersby is in airports) so that's not a very useful thing to do with the space. Hence religious messages and help-wanted ads are very common.
Click to expand...

Thanks, but perhaps I wasn't clear. It seems like every single trucking company is desperate to employ drivers, such that they are constantly poaching from other trucking companies, luring non-drivers to consider a career switch, etc. Is there a reason for that? High turnover?
Click to expand...

If we were living in a simulation, I'd think truck driving would be one of the pleasant occupations that people would do for the experience. If this was a simulation, then you would expect advertisements for fun career choices....

Since we live in a zero sum world, with only a few people on the top, I'd think that it was because trucking companies want to flood the market with truck drivers to lower the amount they have to pay to truck drivers.

It's basically greed motivated- you don't move up in this world without pushing or holding others down.
 
Kharakov said:
James Brown said:
Thanks, but perhaps I wasn't clear. It seems like every single trucking company is desperate to employ drivers, such that they are constantly poaching from other trucking companies, luring non-drivers to consider a career switch, etc. Is there a reason for that? High turnover?
Click to expand...

If we were living in a simulation, I'd think truck driving would be one of the pleasant occupations that people would do for the experience. If this was a simulation, then you would expect advertisements for fun career choices....

Since we live in a zero sum world, with only a few people on the top, I'd think that it was because trucking companies want to flood the market with truck drivers to lower the amount they have to pay to truck drivers.

It's basically greed motivated- you don't move up in this world without pushing or holding others down.
Click to expand...

When I was driving for a living, I really enjoyed the driving part - but the deliveries and pick-ups sucked, and the boss hassling you constantly about late deliveries caused by his over optimistic promises to customers sucked even worse. It's the only job I have ever quit on the spot. I got back to the warehouse after a long morning of bad traffic and grumpy customers, and he came rushing out of his office yelling "Where have you been? These are supposed to be in Harehills [at least half an hour away in ideal conditions] in ten minutes". So I chucked the van keys at him, and said "Well, you had better take them there yourself, because I just quit".

Trucking companies can afford high turnover, as long as they can keep up a steady supply of new recruits.
 
Why is the tachometer so large on my car's dashboard?

The tachometer is marked in increments from zero to eight. I've never seen the needle rise above three, and for perhaps 99% of the time the engine is running, the needle hovers around two-and-a-half. And yet this meter is just as large as the speedometer, which value fluctuates wildly from the time I put the car in gear until I shut it off, and which, if I don't pay proper attention to it, could lead to me driving dangerously or collecting expensive citations. I pay attention to the speedometer. I like a large speedometer, but it doesn't make sense that the tachometer gets just as much real estate. Likewise, the oil pressure and engine temperature gauges are perhaps one-fifth the size of the tachometer. Certainly those should merit more attention than if my engine is revving too high, something that should be obvious by sound alone.

Is there some reason why the tachometer used to merit more attention, and we're still making it huge out of habit?
 
James Brown said:
Why is the tachometer so large on my car's dashboard?

The tachometer is marked in increments from zero to eight. I've never seen the needle rise above three, and for perhaps 99% of the time the engine is running, the needle hovers around two-and-a-half. And yet this meter is just as large as the speedometer, which value fluctuates wildly from the time I put the car in gear until I shut it off, and which, if I don't pay proper attention to it, could lead to me driving dangerously or collecting expensive citations. I pay attention to the speedometer. I like a large speedometer, but it doesn't make sense that the tachometer gets just as much real estate. Likewise, the oil pressure and engine temperature gauges are perhaps one-fifth the size of the tachometer. Certainly those should merit more attention than if my engine is revving too high, something that should be obvious by sound alone.

Is there some reason why the tachometer used to merit more attention, and we're still making it huge out of habit?
Click to expand...

A tachometer is somewhat important in a car with a manual transmission, and the manufacturers don't want to have a separate dash design for models with automatic transmissions?
 
beero1000 said:
James Brown said:
Why is the tachometer so large on my car's dashboard?

The tachometer is marked in increments from zero to eight. I've never seen the needle rise above three, and for perhaps 99% of the time the engine is running, the needle hovers around two-and-a-half. And yet this meter is just as large as the speedometer, which value fluctuates wildly from the time I put the car in gear until I shut it off, and which, if I don't pay proper attention to it, could lead to me driving dangerously or collecting expensive citations. I pay attention to the speedometer. I like a large speedometer, but it doesn't make sense that the tachometer gets just as much real estate. Likewise, the oil pressure and engine temperature gauges are perhaps one-fifth the size of the tachometer. Certainly those should merit more attention than if my engine is revving too high, something that should be obvious by sound alone.

Is there some reason why the tachometer used to merit more attention, and we're still making it huge out of habit?
Click to expand...

A tachometer is somewhat important in a car with a manual transmission, and the manufacturers don't want to have a separate dash design for models with automatic transmissions?
Click to expand...

I have driven a lot of manual transmission vehicles, and have never once used the tachometer - the sound and feel of the vehicle is far more useful for deciding when a gear shift is needed.

Indeed, many of the cars I drove in the early days had manual transmissions, and no tachometer at all.

The real reason they are there is marketing and aesthetics - the manufacturers know they sell more cars with them than without them. It's not a huge difference - but it's not very expensive to include a tacho when designing an instrument panel, so they continue to do it.
 
Can someone who practices math please do something for me?

Add up the number of neuron connections in a human brain and multiply that by the number of people on earth.

Then divide that number into what is assumed to be amount space in the universe. actual feet, not light years.

I keep getting strange numbers and symbols. Galaxibytes?

I'd like the number written as a paragraph if possible.

I need it for an argument I'm having about Corey Haim's acting career. Thank you.
 
James Brown said:
Why is the tachometer so large on my car's dashboard?

The tachometer is marked in increments from zero to eight. I've never seen the needle rise above three, and for perhaps 99% of the time the engine is running, the needle hovers around two-and-a-half. And yet this meter is just as large as the speedometer, which value fluctuates wildly from the time I put the car in gear until I shut it off, and which, if I don't pay proper attention to it, could lead to me driving dangerously or collecting expensive citations. I pay attention to the speedometer. I like a large speedometer, but it doesn't make sense that the tachometer gets just as much real estate. Likewise, the oil pressure and engine temperature gauges are perhaps one-fifth the size of the tachometer. Certainly those should merit more attention than if my engine is revving too high, something that should be obvious by sound alone.

Is there some reason why the tachometer used to merit more attention, and we're still making it huge out of habit?
Click to expand...

In the days of the manual transmission it was much more important although after having driven a car enough you learn to sense the engine speed without looking. With an automatic transmission it has virtually no value and doesn't belong on the dashboard at all.
 
how many plancks make a formidibyte? Planck is time or numbers or does it really matter at that point?

I'd really like a solid number. 1e+25 is what Google said but a human who knows how to spell out every number as a word and make it a big paragraph is what I'm looking for. e isn't even a number and Google just put the plus sign there to be an a-hole.
 
another1 said:
how many plancks make a formidibyte? Planck is time or numbers or does it really matter at that point?

I'd really like a solid number. 1e+25 is what Google said but a human who knows how to spell out every number as a word and make it a big paragraph is what I'm looking for. e isn't even a number and Google just put the plus sign there to be an a-hole.
Click to expand...

1e+25 is scientific notation; it means the same as a 1 followed by 25 zeros, or 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, or ten million billion billion, or ten septillion.

Planck units are a set of units of measurement defined exclusively in terms of five universal physical constants, in such a manner that these five physical constants take on the numerical value of 1 when expressed in terms of these units. All systems of measurement feature base units: in the International System of Units (SI), for example, the base unit of length is the metre. In the system of Planck units, the Planck base unit of length is known simply as the Planck length, the base unit of time is the Planck time, and so on. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planck_units)
 
another1 said:
how many plancks make a formidibyte? Planck is time or numbers or does it really matter at that point?

I'd really like a solid number. 1e+25 is what Google said but a human who knows how to spell out every number as a word and make it a big paragraph is what I'm looking for. e isn't even a number and Google just put the plus sign there to be an a-hole.
Click to expand...

I have to say, I smiled at this. Oh, my sweet summer child...
 
another1 said:
how many plancks make a formidibyte? Planck is time or numbers or does it really matter at that point?

I'd really like a solid number. 1e+25 is what Google said but a human who knows how to spell out every number as a word and make it a big paragraph is what I'm looking for. e isn't even a number and Google just put the plus sign there to be an a-hole.
Click to expand...

1e+25 is a perfectly good number. It's just expressed in scientific notation. When dealing with the really large or really small it's a much better way to write things because it saves writing out a bunch of zeroes and then having the reader have to count those zeroes.

1e+25 = 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.

10 septillion--but the latter is so uncommonly used that Firefox's spellchecker doesn't recognize it as a legitimate word.

The plus sign is optional in this case but in recent years has become far more common. In the old days it would have simply been 1e25.
 
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